


I Bet My Life

by junkyreen



Series: Force of Nature [2]
Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: M/M, tw kidnapping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 06:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13381956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junkyreen/pseuds/junkyreen
Summary: [Part two of the Force of Nature series]Anxiety is gone, and Prince isn't sure what to do.  All he knows is that he will do anything to save Anxiety, even if it means sacrificing his own life for Anxiety's.





	1. ₒₙₑ

It's been hours.

How many, Prince did not know.

His entire life was destroyed. How was he supposed to talk to Misleading Compliments about this? What was he going to do? How was he going to help?

Prince had stopped crying a while ago, and now he felt emotionless.

He promised that he was going to protect Anxiety and what did he manage to do?

Fail. Immediately.

How could he be so ignorant?

If he just checked in on Anxiety or refused to leave him alone, he would still be here. Sitting with him, hugging him, kissing him... But he's been here.

"Prince, you need to eat."

Without moving his head, Prince looked up at Logic only to look at the ground again.

"Prince, we don't blame you and you shouldn't blame yourself, I hope you are aware of this," Logic said, sitting down next to Prince.

Prince didn't respond.

"Prince, you're practically my son-in-law. I... care about you. This is essentially blamable on all of us. If anyone would have checked on Anxiety, we could have noticed something. Instead, we all played it off as normal, even though it shouldn't have been in the first place," Logic explained, awkwardly pulling Prince into a half hug.

Prince still didn't respond. Prince couldn't believe what Logic was saying. It was his duty to protect Anxiety, and now he was gone. Just like that. He just sat there and looked at the ground.

"Hey, Dad, what's wrong? What happened? Why is Morality so upset? He came into Pranks's room and it looked like he was crying. Is everything okay? What's happening?"

Prince actually moved his head when he heard Missy. He started crying once again.

"Prince... there was nothing you could have done," Logic said, rubbing the said man's back. Prince saw Missy Come over and sit in his lap, which only made him cry harder. Now, because of him, his son was going to be upset. He hugged Missy close and sobbed into his shoulder. It was like his entire life came crashing down on him and he was suffocating.

When Prince stopped crying for the second time, he attempted to explain to Misleading Compliments what had happened.

"I was- I was checking on... on An-An..." Prince stopped and breathed in deeply, unable to say his name. If he did, Prince knew he would start to cry once more. "And, when I went into his room he was just... gone. I'm sorry. It's my fault."

Missy just sat there, completely and utterly shocked for a few minutes. He didn't do anything, so Prince sat there and waited for Missy to do something, anything.

Then, Missy broke. He started sobbing into Prince's shoulder. Prince stared ahead and wrapped his arms around his child, rubbing his back in a comforting manner. He kissed the top of Missy's head and mumbled out a sorry once again as the tears went down his own cheeks. He wasn't sobbing anymore, but he knew there were more tears to come.

He held Missy for a while and just sat there with him in his arms as he thought about what could have happened to Anxiety and where he could be. He thought about all the possibilities of how Anxiety left.

He could have left by choice, or he left because he was forced to.

Prince was thinking it was the latter.

At that moment, with Missy in his arms, Prince knew he had to move on. He had to forget how he felt, how sad he was, how it was his fault, and find Anxiety. He knew in order for him to do anything, he would need to throw himself into it and forget about how he was feeling both physically and mentally.

And, he decided, if that was the only way to save Anxiety, then he would do it.


	2. ₜwₒ

Taking a breather, Prince set his sword down. For hours, he had been training himself and practiced certain moves for when he found Anxiety.

He knew that he didn't have any proof that Anxiety left against his will but he was aware that he wouldn't just leave Missy behind for no reason.

And so he trained, and trained, and trained. It seemed so endless, but Prince needed to make sure he was prepared for when he found Anxiety.

Every day, he would create a random monster to battle for his training and every day he would defeat it. After defeating one monster, he would either take an hour break to try and figure out what happened or fight another one. Prince would go to Anxiety's room and search for the entire time and, when he came up with nothing, would go back to defeating monsters.

Only at noon would he allow himself to rest really. He would eat with Pranks, Missy, Morality, and Logic as they all looked at him. Deep down, he knew that they were all concerned for his well being, but he really couldn't care about himself when Anxiety was still missing.

He would only take breaks to eat or, if Missy demanded him to, he would stop momentarily.

But then he would go back, and it would be the same deal once again.

Prince wiped the sweat off his forehead as he collapsed on the ground. For weeks he had been looking for any clue to what had happened, and he still had nothing. He had little hope already, and he felt it diminishing every day. But, he still forced himself to look for something. He forced himself to stay in perfect condition just in case he did find something and needed to fight something or someone.

After the short five minutes of Prince sitting on the ground, he grabbed his sword and put it on the hilt of his belt and walked towards Anxiety's bedroom. He always had a sword on him now because he didn't want to lose anyone else. If anyone, let alone Missy, was captured he would blame himself once again. Prince didn't think I would be able to get back up if that happened.

When he arrived in front of the door that led to Anxiety's bedroom, he paused. It pained him every time he went in there, but I knew he had to do something because the others weren't trying and if they weren't trying then no progress would be made.

As he opened the door, he looked at everything once again. He had touched things but put everything in the same place just in case it could show importance later. He walked to the bed and searched under it for what felt like the millionth time and, not to his surprise, there was nothing there.

Next, he checked on Anxiety's dresser. There was a framed picture of Missy and Prince on the top, and Prince picked it up. He'd looked at the picture plenty of times, but it still felt like something was off about it. He actually loved this picture and was glad it was the one Anxiety chose to keep. He placed the picture back down and moved to Anxiety's make up that lay on the dresser. There was his eyeshadow that didn't have a message of any kind on it, as far as Prince had seen. He placed down that and picked up the foundation.

This brought a small smile to his face as he remembered the few times he had walked in on Anxiety putting it on. He put it back down and checked the rest of the things in the dresser, but came up with nothing.

He opened the top drawer that had all of Anxiety's socks and underwear in it. It was nearly divided, and Prince had checked multiple times for any note or something. Each time, though, he came up with nothing. Just like he did this time.

The other drawers, Prince had learned, were only filled with random objects.

The second drawer down had sunglasses and bouncy balls and even a tiny notebook that had writing in it but definitely wasn't a clue. It was all about how much he really cared about everyone which, Prince had to admit, was adorable.

The third drawer down just had empty notebooks and writing utensils. Prince knew the notebooks were empty because he checked all of them single-handedly. There were a lot of them, and Prince had taken the time to sit down and flip through every single empty page just to make sure.

The final drawer was locked, much to Prince's surprise. He didn't know what was in there but couldn't get into it. He tried picking the lock, but it seemed like only the key could open the drawer. And Prince was talented at picking locks, too.

After looking through everything, Prince went to Anxiety's desk. There was a laptop closed on it, and Prince had looked through every file he could find but came up with nothing. He reminded himself to ask Logic of he could check through it. Prince knew Logic was quite the hacker. (Even Morality didn't know about it until Logic brought it up at dinner once.)

As Prince opened the drawer on the right side, he looked through the clutter in there. He despised going through this drawer because, unlike everything else, it was a mess. There was headphones, random pencils and pens, earbuds (Really, how many of those did Anxiety need?), and a bunch of other clutter.

Admittedly, Prince hadn't taken a close look through this drawer because he knew he wouldn't be able to put anything back in its respectful place. This time, as he was losing hope, he emptied the drawer of all its objects. He looked at every single thing twice before looking back at the drawer. Prince sighed angrily as he still came up with nothing. He kicked the desk in his fit of anger but was confused when he heard a rattle from the empty drawer in front of him.

Prince furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the drawer. Pulling the entire thing out, he noticed a small opening on the bottom. Prince quickly searched for a pencil, and when he found one, he put it in the opening. Slowly pulling it up, Prince was surprised to find that it had been a false bottom.

Prince grinned at this because it was just so Anxiety to make a mess drawer just to have a false bottom to hide something.

Prince carefully took out the ringed notebook from the drawer and began to look through it. This was obviously Anxiety's journal, and Prince looked through the dates. There was a lot of entries from a long time ago, and Anxiety obviously didn't write in it every day. Prince skipped the beginning pages and found the last few pages.

As he read through these, he realized this could be useful before he even finished reading them. He stood up and ran.

He was running through the halls as fast as he possibly could and when he was supposed to turn he almost ran into the wall. He stopped himself just in time and ran harder into the living room. Morality and Logic were in there, and those were just the people he needed. They could help him figure out what the writing meant. Prince knew it was Anxiety's writing because they used to trade notes, so I was extremely excited.

Out of breath, he doubled over with his hands on his knees.

"Prince, what happened?" Morality asked, getting up from the couch and walking towards Prince.

Prince had gained Logic's attention as well at this point.

"I think-" Prince paused as he regained his breath, "I think I found something."


	3. ₜₕᵣₑₑ

"Can you please stop tapping your foot, Prince? I'm trying to focus."

Prince mumbled a sorry to Logic as he forced himself to stop. After Prince had given Morality and Logic the journal, they had been reviewing it. Morality read it first and deciphered all of the emotion parts, and now Logic was interpreting possible hidden meanings within it. Prince had tackled the excruciating task of sitting back and doing nothing.

Prince had already been sitting there for about an hour and was getting tired of not doing something. He had been doing something to try and figure out what happened constantly over the last few weeks and he was so used to doing that that not doing anything was unbearable.

Prince sighed and stood up, stretching his arms. "I'm going to check on Missy, call me when you are finished," he said, walking out of the room.

Prince fidgeted with the handle of his sword as he approached Misleading Compliments's door. He truly hadn't been very close to Missy since Anxiety has gone missing. Prince, having closed himself off to everyone, didn't spend any time with his son.

Taking a deep breath in, Prince knocked softly on the bright blue door.

"Just a second!" Missy yelled, and Prince heard some shuffling for a little bit before the door was opened enough for Missy's face to be shown. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

Prince watched as Missy carefully opened the door enough for him to get out and shut the door.

"What are you doing in there, Missy?" Prince asked, his eyebrows furrowed. Prince took a step forward, so he was closer to Missy and tried to open the door.

"Nothing, Dad! Just what did you want, please?" Missy asked pushing him softly.

"Okay. I just wanted to check on you. How are you doing?" Prince asked, taking a step back and smiled softly.

"I, um, I've been okay. I really miss Dad, though..." Missy said, leaning against his closed bedroom door.

Prince came forward once again but this time hugged Missy close to his chest. They stood there for a minute as Prince and Missy hugged.

When Prince released Missy, he put his hands on Missy's shoulders and stood an arms length away from the boy.

"I'm sorry I haven't been here for you. I should have been, especially in these circumstances, but I got so caught up in trying to make myself useful that I neglected you. I shouldn't have done that, and there's no excuse for what I did, but I'm going to fix my actions and spend more time with you," Prince elaborated, staring right into Missy's eyes.

"It's okay. Dad would have done the same thing if you were the one missing, anyway. It was how you were coping. Just don't think I'm okay with you doing it for no reason because if you do it again, I'll make sure Morality kicks your ass," Missy joked, smirking at his father.

"Language!" Prince shouted, slapping Missy's shoulder softly and laughing.

Prince, seeing as Missy was distracted, smirked and quickly grasped the handle for the door and pushed it open, much to Missy's dismay.

"Dad, no- God, you've done it," Missy exclaimed, blush already rising on his cheeks.

Prince stood in the doorway, looking past Missy and into the bedroom. "Uhm, who is that?"

Missy nervously looked at the person who lay on his bed and then back at Prince, panic clearly in his eyes.

"I, uh, Dad you know how there are the main four traits, and then there's Pranks and me? How we're not main traits but we are big?"

Prince nodded his head skeptically as Missy opened his mouth to make an attempt to explain the situation. Missy looked back at the person in his bed (who had now sa up) and took Prince's hand, leading him into the bedroom.

"Dad, this is Confusion. He's from a different part of the mindscape that Pranks and I found out about a year or so back. Confusion was the person Pranks, and I found. We... bonded," Missy explained, releasing his grip on Prince's hand.

Prince watched as he wiped his hands on his pants. This made Prince smile as he remembered that Anxiety would do that when they first for together. "So there's a whole other part of the mindscape that I don't know about? Does anyone else know about it?" Prince questioned.

"Logic definitely knows! That's how Pranks and I found out about it, in his books. Um, anyway, Dad, I think you need to know something else."

"And what would that be?"

"Confusion and I are, um, we're-"

"I think Missy is trying to say that we're dating."

"How long?"

"About six months," Confusion said and looked at Missy, who nodded.

"That's... How did I not find out about this? I just... what? How?" Prince asked.

Confusion walked close to Missy and held his hand as Prince watched.

Missy spoke next, clearing up Prince's thoughts. "We have been very secret about it. Pranks are the only person that knows, really. He would help sneak us around for dates, but besides that, we didn't really do much. Lately, Confusion has been around more since... He wanted to make sure I was okay."

Prince smiled at this, glad someone was there for Missy.

Prince put his hand out for Confusion to shake as he introduced himself.

"I'm Prince; obviously I am one of Missy's dads. Unfortunate time to meet you, but I'm hoping you'll be able to meet... Missy's father soon." Prince swallowed as he felt his throat close up and his eyes water. "Just... be good to Missy. He deserves the absolute best, and if I hear that you're anything but good to him, I will personally beat your ass." Prince smiled at Missy as he said his final line.

"If I'm not allowed to swear you aren't allowed to either, Dad," Missy said.

Prince laughed until he heard footsteps coming towards them. This made Prince stop as he quickly remembered the problem at hand. He turned to the door just as Morality walked through.

"Logan and I have been talking about what we noticed," Morality started as he leaned against the doorframe. "We think you want to hear about this, Prince. Missy, if you want to come, you're welcome to. And Confusion, of course! If Missy wants you too, that's okay with me."

"How did you find something?" Missy asked.

"I'll explain on the way, kiddo!" Morality exclaimed, pulling on Missy's free hand for their travel to the living room. Prince and Confusion followed, and Prince was trying his very best not to run. He was extremely eager to figure out what happened to Anxiety and how he could help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long! I was out yesterday a lot and didn't have much time to write. Today I was out visiting my father's grave (he has been dead for two years and I've just found out so there is lots of stuff going on) and I've been writing this in bits and pieces. This is unedited because I'm tired and trying to watch Once Upon a Time and hot guys distract me too much to read through my shitty writing.


	4. Fₒᵤᵣ

"So you were looking through Anxiety's room and just found his journal? And started to just read it?" Confusion asked Prince, just to make sure he understood correctly.

"Yes, I did."

"Isn't this kind of an invasion of privacy?" Confusion questioned.

"Probably. But if it means finding out what happened to Anxiety, we need to read it. It could be important evidence. Or it could lead us to something else," Prince explained impatiently. "Now can we please move on to what Morality and Logic found out of it?"

"Yes. So, Morality and I read this from the first page to the last page written in. It essentially was just about how Anxiety felt on particular days and it said why he felt like that, even if not directly saying it every time. Morality and I both took notes on every day's section," Logic said, standing up next to Morality, who stood in front of the rest sitting on the couch. Logic took Morality's hand and Prince could tell he was having a difficult time talking about the subject, even though he didn't show it.

"Yes. Since I am the one that specializes in emotions, I want through and looked more about  _how_ Anxiety was feeling and all that. The reaccurance of emotions, really. Logic, however, looked at the thing more overall. He, uh," Morality paused and took a deep breath to steady himself. "He had to look as of why he was feeling like that. Possible reasons that could lead to what has happened now, what Anxiety could be foreshadowing. It was hard to read through this, and I'm sure Logan can agree because at certain points, it was obvious that  _we_ were the problem that caused Anxiety to be upset. It seemed as though everything in here was in order for him to vent except on a few occasions."

Logic nodded in agreement and took out a small notebook of his own before clearing his throat. Prince could see how upset Logic had become. He noticed for the first time that he hadn't even seen Logic cry yet, so he was sure the other man was going to break soon.

"I would like to start this off by saying that I, too, saw that a lot of his emotions seemed to be caused by people. As Morality said, it was hard to read when I was the cause of some of these negative emotions. But, I had noticed in multiple sections that something didn't quite add up. Morality and I want over this and he agreed with me," Logan stopped and shut his eyes tightly, taking a slow deep breath. "We believe that there was someone else that we didn't know about. That someome was bothering Anxiety a lot at one point but then it seemed to stop for a period of time. Then it started to be something else bothering him."

Morality rubbed Logic's back reassuringly as the other man's breaths became rugged and uneven. Prince heard Logic whisper something to Morality, which Prince could only assume was something along the lines of not being able to continue.

"That was when Anxiety and I broke up, wasn't it?" Prince asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yes. It stopped and the entries slowed down, most likely because he lacked motivation. He said that in one of the few entries that he did make. Then after that, everything seemed to get better. He was talking with us at this time and he talked a lot about Missy and Prince.

"After a few months, this was when Prince started talking to Anxiety and they started spending time together again, it seemed like that someone came back to bother Anxiety once again," Morality finished, not making eye contact with anyone.

At this, Prince jumped up. "So if we figure out who this person is, we could find out what happened to Anxiety?"

"Most likely, yes," Logic chimed in.

Prince kept forward and hugged both Logic and Morality at once. "Thank you so much," he mumbled, smiling more than he had in a while. He could figure out what happened to Anxiety of he just kept looking, and this felt amazing to Prince. He released the two from the hug.

"Can I look through the journal now?" Prince asked, wanting to make sure nothing was missed.

Logic nodded and handed the notebook to Prince. "Here are all of the notes Morality and I took as well."

Prince thanked Logic and turned to Missy and Confusion.

"Would you like to go through this with me, Missy? We could read it together if you'd like."

Missy nodded and kissed Confusion on the cheek. He whispered something into Confusion's ear and walked to Prince.

Prince grasped Missy's hand and lead him to Anxiety's bedroom.

"I think it would be best to go over it here," Prince explained. "Just in case we find a clue that leads us to something in here."

\-----

Prince and Missy had gone through and read the entire journal, much to Prince's discomfort. He didn't really want Missy to know what kind of a place Anxiety had been in after their break up, but he knew that Missy deserved to know. He waa uncomfortable readimg about what he had done, but knew he needed to read about it  
Prince went to close the journal as they finished reading the last page that was written in.

"Wait, Dad! Can you give it to me for a second?" Missy asked. Prince furrowed his eyebrows but gave the notebook to Missy nonetheless. He wasn't sure what Missy could possibly want to do about it.

Prince watched closely as Missy flipped through empty page after empty page. That was until there was a page written in.

"What's that say?" Prince asked immediately.

Missy responded with, "It just says 'picture frame,' Dad. What's that supposed to mean?"

Prince thought for a quick second before remembering the only picture that was framed in Anxiety's bedroom. "I think it's a clue that might help us, bud. Come with me," Prince requested, standing up and walking to Anxiety's dresser while Misleading Compliments followed.

He slowly picked up the picture of him and Missy and observed it carefully. He searched not only the frame, but the picture itself. It didn't seem like there was anything written on it, so Prince was at a loss.

"Missy, do you have any idea about this? I've got nothing."

Missy softly took the object from Prince's hands and looked at it closely. Prince observed the look on Missy's face as he worked. (News Flash: Missy was definately Prince's kid because they had the same thinking face with their tongue slightly stuck out.) Then, Missy turned the frame around and gently unhatched the back of the frame. Prince bit the inside of his cheek as he waited. Missy took off the back and looked in the inside of the frame.

"Is that?" Missy asked quietly.

"A key, yes. And I think I know exactly what it is for, kiddo. Good work, bud," Prince said, ruffling Missy's hair and smiling.

Missy smiled up at his father as he took out his phone to message Morality, Logic, and Pranks to get into Anxiety's room.

\-----

When Pranks walked into the room, Prince immediately noticed how tense Missy became. He put the matter aside, however, and took note to ask the two what happened later. For now he needed to focus on the task at hand.

"Missy and I read the journal and he ended up coming upon a page that pointed us to this picture frame. Missy took off the back after I could not find anything and he found a key," Prince began. "And I believe this key will open the bottom drawer of this dessser, which I was unable to open even with my lockpicking skills."

Morality nodded as Logic just spoke up. "What are you waiting for!? Open the damn drawer already!"

"Language, Logan."

Logic blushed and let out an apology, "Sorry, Mo. Sorry, Roman. That was rude of me, I'm just having a hard time processing my emotions and it is making me more upset. Just, please hurry up. I'm worried about Anxiety."

Prince gave Logic a sad smile. "It's okay, Logic. I understand, I'm worried too."

Prince handed Missy the key, who got down on the floor and stuck it into the keyhole of the bottom drawer and turned it. As the drawer was opened, Prince was suprised that there was merely an LED light at the bottom with nothing else inside of it.

"Why did Anxiety feel the need to lock up an LED light?" He asked.

"If we turn it on in here, we may find out," Pranks suggested.

Prince nodded and took the light out of the drawer and walked across the room to plug it in. Once he plugged it in, he turned to the others to make sure it was okay to turn it on. They all showed signs of agreement.

And so he turned it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1,504 words that is so long you're welcome. I'm proud of myself because all the chapters have been over 1,000 words so far. (The first chapter doesnt count okay) Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day!


	5. Fᵢᵥₑ

As the LED light lit up the room, Roman gasped. The walls, as far as they could all see, were completely covered in writing and drawings that were now revealed due to the LED light.

"Woah..." Missy said, looking amazed at everything he saw.

Prince travelled as far as he could with the LED light and read some of the writing. "This, This is a poem," Prince said, pointing his finger at what he had read previously. Logic walked over to where Prince stood and read the poem written in large letters.

Prince saw him shiver as he read it, as it was based off of pretty dark things, and Prince could only imagine that the rest of the walls were filled with more.

The drawings, however, tended to be just doodles or actual large drawings of what seemed to be Thomas's personality aspects. From the limited view Prince had, he could tell that Missy and Pranks were included. Though they didn't have any signature looks, Prince could tell it was meant to be them by the way they were drawn.

"Can we get an extension cord, please? I want to check the rest of the walls," Prince said, observing the drawing that seemed to have everyone in it. "I believe there is one in the third drawer of the dresser." He could definitely point out himself, Logic, and Morality. It seemed like Pranks stood at one end, and he could assume that the unfinished character that stood next to himself was going to be Anxiety. The bottom half was finished, and it seemed that the rest was just a basic sketch.

Morality ended up giving him the extension cord. Prince switched out the plugs and turned the light back on, curious of what else he could find. It seemed like three of the four walls had been used to their space.  There were many murals of the personality traits, along with more poems that Anxiety wrote. None of them seemed to refer to the situation at hand, but Prince made sure that he should think about them after everything is over.

When Prince was nearing the dresser, he noticed something odd about the ringed notebooks in the drawer that was still open. There was glowing coming from the cover of the notebook that lay on top of the other ones. In a scribble that was undoubtedly Anxiety's read 'Notebook #1.'

_Hey._

_So I guess if you're reading this you figured out about the key in the picture frame and found the light._

_Or maybe you just randomly turned on a LED light for some reason._

_Either way, congratulations for finding out about all my secret notebooks._

_You're probably going to ask lots of questions like 'Oh why would Anxiety make secret notebooks?' and 'What could Anxiety possibly be hiding in all these?' and to that, I  can only tell you to read. Read in order, or you'll miss something._

_If you read, maybe you'll finally understand what it means to be me and understand that it isn't exactly an easy job._

_Anyway, have fun reading about every panic attack, every time I got too scared to talk to someone, every time I couldn't muster up the courage to do something, and every time I was anxious (Well, that is most of the time. That probably explains why there are so many notebooks.)._

_sincerely, me_

As Prince finished reading, he noticed Morality and Logic standing behind him and reading over his shoulder. Prince's breath hitched as he read the letter again. He dropped the notebook in the drawer and looked at all the other notebooks, noticing they were all labeled as well. Prince picked up the notebooks and started to walk to his own bedroom, but was stopped by Logic.

"Shouldn't we review these together, Roman?" He asked.

Prince shrugged him off, "If that's what you wish to do, you can do it after I finish reading them on my own."

After Prince said this, he went to Missy and kissed his forehead, telling him to be good while he was gone. Then, he unplugged the LED light and left the room.

On the way to his room, Prince felt the nerves rise in his chest. He wasn't very willing to read about his love's terrible moments. He hated thinking about these things. He didn't enjoy knowing that his lover had these difficulties and wished he could take them away from him, but knew he couldn't. He also knew that he had to read this and face the fact that Anxiety didn't always feel wonderful.

He took a deep breath and plugged in the light, sitting on his bed. He placed the ringed notebooks next to him on his bed and set up the LED light on his nightstand so he could read off of the light. He grabbed the first notebook and flipped to the second page and begun to read.

 

_So you may have thought that the first page you read was an introduction, but it really wasn't. I guess I just needed to clarify things. Even though the chances of someone actually reading this are slim. Anyway, first things first._

_Why did I make this?_

_Well, I was simply thinking one day about how most people think my job is easy or that I purposely make Thomas feel anxious. Then I decided that I should write about what I actually intend to do and what happens to me for being the embodiment of anxiety. And this was born. You're welcome._

_This talks a lot about things that have happened to me over the years, by the way. I won't say much other than that, but you should be careful moving forward. It will get darker and darker as you read. I repeat, be careful._

_Finally, there are some things in here that are going to surprise you, I promise this. I also made this long after a lot of the events that you will read about happened, so the details won't be very good. I blocked out a lot of it until I wrote about it in here._

_Now, let's begin with when I first became a part of Thomas._

_Sincerely, me_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this count as a cliffhanger?? If so sorry I'm just posting this at 1:21 A.M. which is late because I should have posted it yesterday. There will be another chapter posted later.
> 
> Not all of the things that Prince reads about will be in this book but if yall really want to know about everything I could write an entire book about it that just gets updated whenever I update it. 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING !! Anxiety's warning is real. Mentions of verbal and possible physical bullying will happen, also kidnapping will be mentioned. Just a warning before we touch on these things, and if you want me to message you summaries because you get uncomfortable by these things, just ask me. !!


	6. ˢⁱˣ

_When I first became a part of Thomas, even I didn't know what I was supposed to be. When I popped up in Morality's bedroom (To see my Dad's kissing, by the way. The first thing I saw was them kissing and it was terrible.), all I knew was that I was apprehensive about even being there. But I didn't know what else to do, so I had to ask Morality and Logic where I was and what I was doing after witnessing them make out._

_Yeah. Very awkward._

_After that, Logic and I had a conversation about what was going on while Morality squealed and hugged me a bunch of times. I didn't know who I was immediately, hell I didn't even know my name until I said it out loud. Morality had asked for my name and I just blurted out 'Anxiety' and that was that._

_Logic and I actually bonded first, and he brought me to my bedroom. We had to look for it first, which was when we bonded. If I remember correctly, he started talking about space and how little bit of it we had discovered so far. I like to think that's why I liked reading about stuff like that._

_Once we found my bedroom, Logic gave me some privacy and let me just be in my room while I watched it change on its own. I still don't understand that._

_I didn't meet Prince until the next day, and I was almost certain he hated me when he looked at my all black attire. He tried to start a conversation though, so he gets points for that. I didn't really respond much other than saying my name._

_That day was also the first day Thomas got nervous about a test, and that was because of me even though I didn't realize it. I didn't realize I was the one making Thomas upset for a while._

_Morality was really happy to have me as his kid for a few days, but then got distracted by Thomas being so nervous all the time after three days. Logic never really showed much affection but that's probably because he was caught up with Thomas._

_And I think he knew that I was the cause of Thomas's anxiousness because he was always the smart one, wasn't he? But when everyone started to ignore me that's when I got worse, I guess._

_Sincerely, me_

 

  Prince finished reading the first true entry in the journal and sat back. He remembered when he first met Anxiety when they were all still developing. That was when Logic wore t-shirts and he wore casual clothes. Back when Morality actually wore his shirts that only had puns on them. That was terrible, every day would be a brand new shirt with a brand new pun on it.

Logic, however, tended to just wear solid colored t-shirts or maybe a shirt that related to science. (One time he wore a shirt with the periodic table of elements on it, there was also that time where he wore a space shirt.)

Prince actually liked to think he had a good sense of style. He didn't usually wear t-shirts like the others but if he did he would wear a jacket over it. He still had that jacket in his closet, actually. He loved the jacket until he had discovered the prince costume when he became a main trait.

Anxiety actually hadn't changed much. The most noticeable thing that changed about how Anxiety looked was the makeup he wore. When he became the final main trait, he received his signature sweatshirt.

Prince chuckled softly and continued to read the next entry.

 

_For a while, I was ignoring everyone. I didn't leave my room for weeks at a time and when I did leave, I wouldn't talk to anyone. I'm sure Prince and Morality tried to talk to me a dozen times each time I left my room but, every time, I would grab food and go back to my room without saying a word._

_When Morality first checked up on me, I learned that I could change my room. It happened because of an accident, and I just kind of went with it. I did that every time someone came to my room because I was scared of what they would think of my real room._

_It sounds stupid, doesn't it? Being insecure about how your own room looks?_

_When you're me, that's how you react to everything. I can't be comfortable with practically anything that I do, and that sucks._

_Even with my relationship with Prince, I'm doubting that it's real. I'm doubting that he'll stay. I'm thinking that it's all a joke._

_Usually, I can ignore that so I make sure Prince doesn't know how I feel._

 

The next part had been scribbled out to the point that Prince could only see the words 'reading this' and everything else was too scribbled at to see. It seemed like there were two sentences, but Prince couldn't be sure. So he continued to read.

_Besides that, I guess I should talk about the rest of what happened when I was blocked out by everyone._

_When I did manage to come out of the room I could hear the other three talking a lot. At this point, they were all main traits. Logic had gotten his shirt and tie, Morality had gotten his shirt and cardigan, and Prince had gotten his outfit. He also got a crown, from what I know._

Prince laughed at this and fidgeted with his crown ring. He remembered when Anxiety and he had first started to date, he brought Anxiety to his room. He kept his crown on his end table, for the most part, he didn't like to overdo his look. Anxiety, on occasion, would actually ask him to wear the crown while they went on some dates. 

_I was still a lot calmer at this time. So I could leave my room without worrying to the point where I backed out. I really miss those times, actually. When I overheard Prince, Logic, and Morality talking about wanting to have another kid. Prince sounded excited, but all I really remember the feeling of dread. I could feel myself shaking and my hearing was screwed up so they all sounded so distant. I had gone to get cookies, and I remember putting the plate on the table loud enough for them to hear. Morality had come through the door to check on me but at this point, I had already been stumbling to leave. I had a hard time walking and when I reached the doorframe, I almost fell. Somehow I managed to make it to my room without Morality following me._

_This was my first panic attack, and the details are fuzzy and have been fuzzy for years. This probably won't make much sense._

_I remember my thoughts filling me with doubt of my own fathers caring about me. I still feel that doubt, actually. I still remember the way my breathing got shallow and I tried not to cry. I remember the feelings of knowing that I wasn't wanted, not being enough for Morality and Logic, and being a failure._

_I know, I know. 'Just because they wanted another kid doesn't mean that's what they meant!'_

_Well, guess what? It's how I felt and, even with Pranks here, I still feel. Pranks is a better son, anyway._

_I don't blame them for wanting another one, either. I was always in my room and only came out once or twice a week. I never spent time with them, so why wouldn't they want a son that actually cared to leave his room? I was a bad son, period._

_You may be saying 'They could have made an effort to talk to you!' and what I say to that is: I could have left my room more._

_Sincerely, me_


	7. ₛₑᵥₑₙ

_When I first became a main trait, I had come back from grabbing food. I had walked into my room and placed my plate on my bed (along with enough snacks to last me for the week). I went to grab my laptop off of my computer desk and when I turned around, I saw the sweatshirt and makeup. I shrugged it off and put on the sweatshirt because I didn't actually know what it meant at the time. No one filled me in on how that worked. That's when I started to wear eyeshadow every day. Even though I didn't leave my room often, I would put it on every day._

_The next week, I had come out of my room to grab food and bumped into Princey in the way, who looked extremely surprised at my slight change of attire. He asked me about it, and I just shrugged my shoulders and muttered about finding it on my bed. At this point, I was more comfortable in the mindscape; comfortable with my fathers and Prince._

At this, Prince was slightly surprised. Besides after Morality and Logic apologizing, Prince had never heard Anxiety call the two his fathers. And, by Prince's speculation, this was written the first time they were together. There were so many notebooks that it was impossible that had just been written after they got together again.

Even if these were written before they got together again, it would have needed to be written a long while back.

Prince shook his head and looks back down at the notebook in his hands, deciding to focus back on it.

_I didn't walk away immediately and instead let Prince ask his questions. I answered all of them with silly snarky remarks. When I was finally annoyed, I found myself nearing the kitchen. Prince was still following me, too. I remember his exact words that he said when I was rummaging through the cabinets._

"How can he be a main trait, he's just Anxiety," Prince whispered as he read. He remembered that clearly. That had upset Anxiety greatly, thus making Thomas upset. Morality and Logic had immediately tried to make Thomas feel better, but he had followed Anxiety to his room. At the time, Prince realized, he hadn't yet liked Anxiety. But he remembered the compelling feeling to apologize and cheer Anxiety up.

_Do you remember that, Prince? Do you remember insulting my very existence?_

_I do. I remember it whenever I start thinking that you're dating me as a prank. I remember it every time I feel bad about myself. Because, believe it or not, youre right. I'm_ **_just_ ** _Anxiety. I am anxiousness, I am fear, and I got too out of hand. And I am sorry. I wish I wasn't, don't you think of I could control it I would try to make myself less of a problem?_

_But, as Morality always says, sometimes you have to learn to love yourself._

_Now, I'm not saying that I've done this, but I have finally come to the terms that it wasn't my fault even after thinking it was for my entire life. It is not my fault that I am heightened, it is not my fault that I make Thomas anxious all the time. Because I could not control it._

_I hope whoever is reading this can come to these terms just like I did._

_Sincerely, me_

Prince looked at the clock that lay on his end table, noticing that roughly an hour had gone by. He decided that he should take a short break before continuing.

He stood up and stretched, bringing his arms high in the air. Rolling his shoulder, he yawned and began his journey to the kitchen. As he walked, he dragged his fingertips along the wall to calm himself down. Thinking about how rude he was to Anxiety made him feel bad, even if Anxiety told him it was okay.

As Prince neared the kitchen, he turned his brain to other thoughts. Morality greeted him as he walked through the door. He was at the stove probably cooking dinner for everyone.

"Heya, kiddo! How's the reading been?" 

Prince looked through the fridge for a snack to hold him over; he didn't plan on eating an entire dinner. "It's okay, very emotional. Explains a lot on how Anxiety feels, though. It also explains about us, or it has so far. It started at the beginning so there isn't much," Prince explained, grabbing an apple and a water bottle.

"You hoping that it will mention our mystery person?" Morality asked, stirring whatever was in the pot on the stove.

"Yes, I'd just like Anxiety back."

"Me too, Roman," Morality sighed, turning his head to look at Prince for a second before looking back at his food.

Prince asked, "Can I be honest with you, Mo?"

"Go ahead,"

  Prince sat down at the counter and placed his bottle and apple next to him.  "I just feel like this could be on me, you know? I feel like I'm letting everyone down, really. I haven't even left to check on Thomas! Remind me to do that after I finish eating, please." Prince took a bite of his apple.

"It's not your fault, Roman. Don't say that. You're trying your best, you lost the one you love and you just needed time to cope. Now, you're  doing better, it's okay. We still love you," Morality elaborated, grabbing spices from the cabinet to mix in his dish.

"Thanks, Morality. I love you too," Prince said, a smile now on his face. He took a swig of his water and then went back to his apple.

"You going to join us for dinner?" Morality questioned, grabbing plates and utensils.

"No."

"Just make sure you take care of yourself, please."

"I will, don't worry about it," Roman said, throwing the apple core in the trash and grabbing his water bottle. "I'll be back in my room reading after I check on Thomas. Tell Missy I love him? Thanks!" 

As Prince finished his thoughts, he ran back to his room and placed his water bottle on his end table. He then sunk down to check on Thomas.

"Thomas! How are you doing?" He asked, startling Thomas, who was facing the other direction.

"Roman! Don't sneak up on me," Thomas said, turning to look at Roman.

Roman was slightly startled to see that Thomas had an ace bandage wrapped around his right wrist. Concern flashed in his eyes as he stepped closer to Thomas in order to inspect his hand.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Prince asked, gently taking Thomas's arm. He should have at least felt this- it didn't make much sense that he didn't. Something most have been going on in Thomas's head. He doubted that just because Anxiety was gone he and the others didn't feel when Thomas got hurt.

"I just sprained my wrist, it's fine."

"How did you sprain your wrist? What did you do?" Prince questioned.

"I was riding my bike and I was going too fast and when I braked so I wouldn't hit someone, I went over the top and landed on my wrist in a wrong way. Luckily it was only a sprain. The odd this was- is- I haven't been anxious the entire time," Thomas explained.

"Well, that makes sense, Anxiety has been gone. You're not being careful about things. Listen, Thomas, I gotta go do things in the mind. If yo have any questions ask Logic or Morality! Bye!' And with that, Prince sunk down.

Prince was going to get to the bottom of all this. Of Anxiety's absence. Of whatever is going wrong in Thomas's head.


	8. ᴱⁱᵍʰᵗ

As Prince arrived in his bedroom, he made quick decision to ask Morality and Logic about what happened with Thomas. He turned to shut off the LED light that was still on. Then, he left his room to make his way to the living room, because that was where everyone would most likely be. He hummed as he walked, trying to calm himself down. Logic probably had a reasonable explanation, right? 

Roman fiddled with his sword handle as he walked into the living room. He saw Pranks, Misleading compliments, and Logic all sitting on the couch. He assumed that morality was with Thomas. Logic was reading while Pranks and Missy watched whatever was on the television. Prince walked into the room so he was in front of Logic.

"Logic? Can I pull you aside for a minute?" He asked.

Logic looked up and nodded, "Let me finish this page, please. Wait in the hall?"

Prince didn't respond and only walked so he was out of the room. He leaned on the wall as he processed what he would say.

"Prince, what do you need?"

"Well, I checked up on Thomas and he sprained his wrist. He was riding his bike and wasn't being various like he usually is, I think something's wrong. Sure, Anxiety isn't here but we should still have sprained wrists, shouldn't we?" Prince asked.

"Well, actually, Anxiety was a main trait; a main emotion, even. He is vital to who Thomas is as a person. Without him... Thomas is different. Him spraining his wrist is only the beginning. If we don't find Anxiety soon, I speculate that Thomas will start acting differently during everything. It will change who he is as a person," Logic explained, crossing his arms over his chest and adjusting his glasses. He had to clear his throat multiple times so his voice was normal, Prince could tell.

Prince nodded, showing his understanding. "But what about the sprained wrist?"

"Well, with Anxiety not here to do his job, that affects the mind itself. I'm out case, how it works. Normally we would have sprained wrists, but with Thomas being different because of Anxiety's absence the mind gets confused, in a sense. It loses sight in how to properly function in some ways. So Anxiety not being here is why we don't have sprained wrists," Logic said.

Prince nodded, "Thank you, Logan. I was just concerned about it after I found out. I'll be reading the notebooks now, if you need me."

With this, Prince walked into the living room and kissed Missy on the forehead, muttering out an 'I love you' and something else about reading before leaving and going up to his bedroom.

He took a sip of the water on his end table before getting situated on his bed with the LED light and notebooks.

_I remember that after I became a part of the main traits, my panic attacks would happen more frequently and they were more often than not over little things. They got worse and worse for a long time. I never told anyone about it because I didn't want them to deal with me. So I suffered in silence and each day played it off as if I was doing dandy which, for me, meant arguing with Prince every other minute. Somewhere along the line I fell for him._

_Now, don't get me wrong, Prince wasn't my first choice, but then again he was my only choice. If I wanted a relationship, that is. I didn't want a relationship for a long time, and I was content with our bickering every day, even if some of the things Prince said were a lot harsher than others._

_We actually started to hang out after we started to talk about Disney. We were bickering about it for a while until we both have up and just stopped. He invited me to a movie marathon (of course it was all Disney) and I accepted, suprisingly. I think I already subconsciously knew that I wanted to get to know Princey more._  
 _Anyway, Prince actually ended up falling asleep mid-way through Wall-E. Thinking back, I may or may not have watched him for a few minutes to make sure he was really asleep. (Or maybe I just thought he was cute while asleep.) Either way, I eventually left_   _and let him wake up on his own._   _That was the beginning of Prince and_ I's _relationship. Every now and again he would offer another movie night, and since they were far apart I accepted each time._ Eventually _they got more frequent. Then we just started hanging out for no reason. Then we got together. I'm glad we did, really. He makes me as happy as I can be. He brings out the better me._

Prince smiled, but his lips were soon brought to a frown when he realized the next paragraph had been crossed out. Completely. There was no way Prince was reading whatever Anxiety had wrote about him. So he moved on to the next entry.

After a while if reading, he checked the time and noticed it was late. He yawned and decided to clean up and get ready for bed. He went to his closet and found a pair of pajama pants along with a baggy t-shirt. Prinve walked into his bathroom and placed his clothes on the counter before washing his hands. He then proceded to take out his contacts and got in the bathtub when he was finished.

As he bathed himself, he thought about all he had read. There were many panic attacks listed, many times that Anxiety felt bad for who he was, and many times where people disregarded Anxiety as bad.

Prince knew by now that Anxiety wasn't really bad, though he had gotten upset a few times because Anxiety made Thomas upset. Now, though, Prince knew exactly how Anxiety felt, how he wasn't trying to be bad. How it was just how he worked, it's how he cared for Thomas. It was a different way from his, and Prince now realized that it was okay for it to be so different, even if he hadn't thought it was entirely true before. Prince used to think that Anxiety didn't care about Thomas at all. He knew the truth, now.

As Prince got out of the bath and changed, he continued to go over what he had read. By now, he read through more than one journal. These journals where jam packed with experiences with Prince, Pranks, Morality, and Logic. There was so much to read.

As Prince checked the time (2:36? How had it gotten that early so fast?), he comprehended the fact that he needed to keep track I time. He couldn't let his sleeping schedual go haywire. Prince crawled into bed and curled up on his pillows. He took one of the many and half it close to his chest, wishing it were Anxiety.

Prince knew he was getting closer to the answer.


	9. ᴺⁱⁿᵉ

**CAUTION!! TRIGGER WARNING- ABUSE IS MENTIONED. FOR SUMMARY GO TO BOLD AND ITALICIZED AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER.**

Blinking the sleepiness from his eyes, Prince yawned in his bed. He stretched his limbs before sitting up and heading to his bathroom in order to get ready for the day. He put in his contacts after going to the bathroom and washing his hands. He then grabbed his usual attire and threw it on messily, eager to get back to reading about Anxiety. He knew, however, that he needed to eat breakfast before reading. He grabbed the notebooks that he had finished reading and began to travel downstairs into the kitchen.

"Good morning kiddo! How have you been?" Morality asked him. Prince peered at the stove and saw the pancakes that Morality was in the process of making.

"I'm good. Here are the notebooks I finished reading last night," Prince said, placing them on the table.

"You got through that many? How did you?"

"I'm a faster reader than you think. I also stayed up until like two something in the morning just reading," Prince explained, opening the fridge and grabbing the milk. He walked to the Keurig and turned it on so it would earn up.

"Prince, I know you're worried about Anxiety but you can't go to bed that early in the morning and wake up at this time too! You need your sleep," Morality scolded, placing another pancake on a plate.

"I need to know what happened to Anxiety!"

Morality sighed and turned to face Prince. "So do I! You're controlling this entire thing and there is no way we will be able to find him if you keep draining yourself! You won't let us help you read so we find him faster, you obviously won't let us help when we do know what happened to him, what are we supposed to do? Watch as you throw yourself into this and not take care of yourself? It's ridiculous, Roman."

"I guess... I guess you're right. If I don't get enough sleep, I won't be ready to help Anxiety, or the rest of you, when the time comes. I'm sorry, Patton," Prince said, turning back to the Keurig and situating everything so he could make his coffee.

"It's okay. I don't want to lose anyone else, that's all," Morality spoke softly. Prince walked over to Morality and hugged him.

"I'm just so worried that I want to find out what happened and get him back. I know you're his father, but Anxiety is a father to Missy and he's so upset... He needs Anxiety, I need Anxiety. I don't know how to help Missy besides tell him I love him. He always wanted to hang out with Anxiety, so they're significantly closer than him and me," Roman explained, releasing Morality from the hug so he could finish making the final pancake.

"I know,"

"Don't take me wrong! I want Anxiety back too. It just happened as soon as..."Roman started.

"As soon as what?" Morality asked, turning around after putting the final pancake on a plate.

"As soon as! I got it Morality! I know what happened! I read these, these final entries before I fell asleep. I couldn't read anymore because I didn't have my contacts in and I was so tired but Anxiety wrote about this person showing up and- it gets bad but- I'll just get them for you, I think they were in this final notebook right here-" Prince said, eagerly looking through one of the notebooks he brought down. "Here! These last two pages, read them!"

Morality grabbed the notebook from Prince and started to read.

_The first time he showed up was relatively soon after I popped up. I think it was that second day, actually. He was sneaky, and I didn't notice that he was there until he was physically there. He was always the one to whisper in my ear, to tell me when I was doing something wrong. He told me that I shouldn't have been there, that I didn't fit in. Genuinely, he was the one who put me into the panic attacks._

_He beat me down mentally until he decided that mentally screwing me up wasn't enough and started to get physical._

_He's the reason why I am Anxiety._

_Sincerely, me_

_The first time he was physically there was before Prince and I even got together. I don't remember the exact time, but I know it wasn't a while after Prince and I started to have those movie nights more frequently. I think he got upset at me for putting myself out there in a way. So, he came into my room one night after Prince and I watched Toy Story. He smacked me and told me to stop talking to him because I would do something wrong. It left a bruise on my face but I covered it up with makeup. I ignored him then and just thought it was a dream because I tend to forget what is a dream and what isn't. Prince and I continued to hang out. I continued to fall for him._

_So he came back again, and again, and again. He got worse each time. But, at this point, I was addicted to Prince I couldn't just stop seeing him, I had to hang out with him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have stayed. He was and still is my hope._

_That may seem ironic because he represents Thomas's hope, but it's just how everything went. He gave me the most positive thoughts as possible. At first, I believed that he would leave after a few times. As it got worse, I believed that I wouldn't get beat up as bad as the last time. My hope never completely vanished, I just lost a little bit every time. Eventually, that all added up and I was without a doubt hopeless._

_Then Prince asked me out and everything seemed to get better. He stopped showing up. I felt great._

_Sincerely, me_

"Prince, this is a lot worse than you made it seem," Morality choked out.

"Can I- Can I reread it, I don't really remember everything about it I just- Please let me read it again," 

Morality handed him the notebook and Prince reread the text, this time being able to clearly comprehend it. Tears welled in his eyes as he realized that this was technically his fault. He could have done something.

"Morality, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was this bad. I only remembered the verbal and not- not the physical I didn't- God, this is my fault isn't it? I'm the one that asked Anxiety to spend time with me. I'm sorry, Mo," Prince apologized.

"It's not your fault, Prince. If you hadn't asked Anxiety about that, he would have been talking to us as much as he did. I don't blame you."

"You don't blame him for what?" Logic asked as he walked into the room.

"Logic- I'm sorry, I didn't know it was happening," Roman said.

"What was happening?"

"Logan, I think you should read this entry. Roman brought it down today and..." Morality trailed off, reaching out to Logic with the notebook in hand. Logic grabbed it as he read it too.

"So, he was, he was... Oh, God. That's terrible," Logic said.

"We can't tell the kids. They can't read the notebooks. When we get Anxiety back, we ask him if he wants them to know. This is his decision, he didn't even want us to know unless we found these. The kids- that would destroy them," Prince stated, pacing around in the kitchen.

"I agree, I'm not telling Pranks," Logic replied, walking over to the fridge and grabbing a water bottle. "I'm going to go see if we have any pills that will ease queasiness, do you need any?"

Morality nodded his head as Roman looked at the ground.

"I'll be back," Logic said, making his way to the bathroom.

Roman stood there, trying his best to calm his stomach down by himself. He needed to keep reading. He had to know who did this to Anxiety. He needed to know.

**_In this chapter, Prince, Morality, and Logic learn that someone had come into Anxiety's life shortly after he was frequently hanging out with Prince. This person did terrible things to Anxiety both verbally and physically. Prince, Morality, and Logic all agree to not tell the kids about this until Anxiety says that they can when they get him back._ **


	10. ᵀᵉⁿ

**TRIGGER WARNING:  This time, it isn't outright said though. The abuse is reference but there isn't anything outright saying what happened. It is only in Anxiety's letter. Summary will be bolded and italicized at the end of the chapter .**

Prince paced through the kitchen and asked himself why Anxiety didn't tell anyone.

"I don't... Morality, why didn't he say something? He... I would have done something! He knew that! I love him, I would have helped him..." Prince let out, holding his head in his hands.

"Roman, I think someone needs to read on. If... If these notebooks keep up the way they already have, he'll explain why. My guess is that he didn't want anyone else getting hurt so he just... didn't try to get help. I- can we stop talking about this, I feel sick," Morality murmured, rubbing his stomach.

Logic came back shortly after, looking extremely pale.

"There wasn't any, but we could try remedies or... just not do anything. Are we going to tell Thomas?"

Prince stopped pacing and rubbed his temple. "Not yet. We should find out who did it first, then go to Thomas when we know everything."

Logic and Morality nodded, agreeing with Prince.

"You can read on, I'm just going to... distract myself. Morality, will you be joining me?" Logic said, already turning to leave.

Prince watched as Morality followed Logic into the livingroom.

Prince looked at the pancakes that were still next to the stove and grabbed the plates, setting two out for the kids and putting the others in the fridge because he knew he and the other two wouldn't be eating. He then set the table for Misleading Compliments and Pranks before leaving to go back to his room.

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the next notebook. This one has a black cover and a piece of paper tapes to it that idicated the number of it. So, Prince continued to read, desperate to find out who did that to his Anxiety.

 _You're probably wondering why I never spoke up about this. Well, that's simple. He threatened not only me, but everyone else. My dads, Prince, and eventually he even threatened Misleading Compliments, and Pranks. I didn't want anyone to get hurt because of me, so I didn't tell anyone_.

_He didn't tell me who he was for a long time. He just continued to abuse me mentally and physically until Prince and I had Misleading Compliments._

_He was at least kind enough to not hurt me while I was pregnant with Missy, so he turned out okay. Missy, not Depression. Depression still chose to torture me in other ways while I was pregnant. He was still terrible, no matter what._

_Lately, since Missy was born not that long ago (Don't make me write it out for you. It still hurts even if I've been acting like I'm fine), he's been back. He was gone for a while, but he came back and it's been destroying me. I've been able to hide it using make up and my acting skills. Luckily I'm just as good of an actor as Thomas. Otherwise, I'd be screwed._

_I've been trying to ignore him, but it hasn't been working. It only makes everything worse._

_Sincerely, me_

Prince furrowed his eyebrows at the letter.  
'Depression? Who was Depression? Thomas wasn't depressed, Prince would know if he was. Why was Depression even a trait if Thomas wasn't Depressed?' He thought, thinking about everything he had read when he first became a main trait.

He was required to read these manuals so he knew how everything worked, but he didn't remember everything very well.

Hoping that Logic or Morality remembered better, he stood up to check Morality's bedroom. When he came up empty, he checked Logic's bedroom. To his suprise, the two were actually in there under a blanket. Morality had his head in Logic's chest and Logic was running his back. Prince knocked on the doorframe to get their attention. Logic moved his gaze towards Prince as the royal shut the door.

"I know who did it. But it doesn't make much sense, to me at least," Prince explained, standing near the side of their bed. He fiddled with his thumbs, knowing that the two wanted to know who it was. "It was, Depression? But, Thomas isn't depressed, so I don't understand why it... how? I don't understand how Depression was- is- a trait and I was hoping you two might know."

Morality shook his head, though in an odd position, and put his head back into Logan's chest, bringing himself back to his lover.

"I don't believe I know," Logic said, wrapping his arm around Morality.

"I was just wondering because I just assumed that you might have remembered the manuals better than I do. But I guess if you don't I'll go see if something is in them," Prince said, turning to leave. As his hand hovered over the door knob, he paused and turned around.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry, Roman? You didn't do this. If our speculations were right, then this was all Depression. Depression is the most likely candidate to have taken Anxiety, even now," Logic replied.

"I know, but, you guys didn't deserve this. Just because you were shi- crappy parents at one point doesn't mean you deserved to have your son taken away from you."

"You're his boyfriend, Prince. And you two just got back together," Morality said, lifting his head so his voice could be heard.

"I fear that is why Anxiety was taken in the first place, Patton," Prince said. Not wanting to talk about it any longer, Prince turned and left the bedroom.

Prince sighed and walked back to his bedroom. He went to his small bookshelf and picked up one of the manuals. If neither Logic or Morality knew, Prince would just have to try and find it himself. He opened the manual labeled _Traits and How They Work_  and looked in the table of contents for a chapter that might apply to Depression. When he came up with nothing, he turned to the index and began his search.

When he heard footsteps nearing his room, he paused and just kept his head down, looking at the page blankly. However, when the footsteps stopped and his door opened, he stood up and turned around just as the other person began to speak.

"P- Prince?"

**_In this chapter it's pretty much Prince finding out that he is a mess and feels sick because of the thing. He also finds out that Depression is the person who abused Anxiety._ **


	11. ᴱˡᵉᵛᵉⁿ

A gasp emitted through Prince's body as he stood up. He ran forward and pulled the other trait into a hug.

"I- You're here? How did you- oh my gosh you're back!" Prince shouted, pulling his head away from Anxiety and kissing him on the lips. "I can't believe- how did you get away from Depression? That is what happened, right?"

"Oh, yes. He, uh, captured me. He also left me unattended a lot, so I managed to escape him," Anxiety explained, walking into the room and looking around as he walked.

"Should we be worried about Depression coming back to hurt you?" Prince asked, walking along with Anxiety, pulling the other traits hand into his own.

"No... No, we're good," Anxiety said, looking up at the ceiling.

"Gosh, you're acting like you've never seen my room before," Prince joked, moving away from Anxiety andsitting on his bed. ?Moving the notebooks aside, he then lied down on the side of the bed he usually wasn't on when they snuggled or slept.

"It's just been a long time," Anxiety assured, taking his eyes off the decorations and walking to Prince's bed. He sat down on it, not showing a sign of laying down with Prince.

"I think we should tell Morality, Logic, Missy, and Pranks about you bring back, Love," Prince said, smiling over at Anxiety's back. "And then we can snuggle and I'll sing you to sleep, if you'd like."

Anxiety nodded and Prince's smile only widened.

"I love you, Anxiety. I'm so glad to have you back!" Exclaimed Prince, managing to get up and hug Anxiety from behind before he could react. Anxiety nodded against Prince.

"I'm glad to be back, babe," He said, turning to kiss Prince on the cheek.

\-----

Prince's hand never left Anxiety's as they walked to the living room. He was noticably closer to his boyfriend than he usually was, but that could be expected after having Anxiety back. Prince didn't want to make the same mistake and have Anxiety go missing once again.

"Stay here, I want to make sure eveyone is there first," Prince whispered to Anxiety, quietly slipping into the livingroom.

Prince clapped his hands and grinned even wider than he already was. "Guys, I have an announcement to make!" Prince said as he noted that Logic, Morality, Pranks, and Misleading Compliments were all in the room.

Missy looked up from where he was picking at the carpet. "How the hell can you be so happy!? He's been gone for so long and here you are, showing off a smile wider than the fucking ocean," He snapped, standing up and balling his hands into fists.

"Now Missy, be nice to your father-" "No! I'm tired of this, I'm tired of him! First he ignores me for how long? Weeks? I may look just like you guys but I'm still just a kid! I needed support from him! Then he waltzes in here with this huge smile on his face like everything is fine but it's not! Dad- Anxiety is gone and he's not allowed to do this. Prince is not the only one that's having problems! I lost a father figure, the one that I was closest with. That hurts a lot," Missy said, his voice cracking. Tears were rolling down Missy's face at this point.

Prince only looked at him blankly for a moment before responding.

"Missy, you're grounded. Go to your room."

Even Logic was suprised at what Prince said. Missy nodded and wiped his eyes, walking out of the room. You could hear that he was running as soon as he was out by his quickened footsteps.

Logic stood up when he realized that neither Pranks or Morality were going to say anything. He looked at the two who sat next to each other. They still had their mouths open in shock.

"Prince, that's unreasonable. He was only expressing his feelings. You know Anxiety wouldn't have wanted him to get in trouble for that. In fact, he would be consoling Misleading Compliments right now instead. He knows that bottling up your emotions is not healthy," He said, pushing up his glasses.

"He doesn't need parenting advice from you of all people, Logan," Anxiety replied, walking into the livingroom.

"Anxiety?" Morality asked from his position on the couch.

"The one and only. Prince did the right thing, Missy deserves to get grounded."

Morality shook his head, "No, Missy didn't. He has been holding back his feelings since they day you were gone, he needed to let that out."

"He could have done it a different way. In a nicer way," Anxiety said.

Giving up already, Morality sighed and got up. He just did not have the energy to argue. "Well, I'm just going to check on him. If either of you couldn't tell, he was  _crying._ "

Pranks followed Morality, worried for his friend. That left Logic in the room with the two. He had his arms crossed over his chest.

"Listen, I get that Anxiety just got back but that is no excuse. That doesn't give the both of you the right to act so rudely towards your, in case you forgot, son."

"And what gave you the right to ignore me?" Anxiety asked, crossing his arms as well.

"I thought we went over this. I apologized, you said that you forgave me. I thought we were okay," Logic asked, honestly confused at Anxiety's hostility. He looked at Prince, who was just standing and watching this happen.

"Well it looks like I changed my mind. You were shitty to me then and you can't make up for it now," Anxiety finished, walking out of the room the same way he came in. Prince followed.

Defeated and hurt, Logic stood there in the same position for a momment. He let his arms drop to his side as he tried to will the tears away. He knew that he couldn't make up for what he did, but it hurt to hear Anxiety day it himself. He wasn't going to be good enough of a father for Anxiety. Not then, not now, not ever.

Composing himself and wiping his cheek were a tear had managed to escape to, he made himself stop thinking about it. He could be worrying about that on his own time. Now, he had to worry about Misleading Compliments.


	12. ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ

**HIYA THERE IS VIOLENCE IN THE KITCHEN SCENE OF YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THAT I'LL MAKE A NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER EXPLAINING THE ENTIRE SCENE.**

Logic slowly knocked on Misleading Compliment's door after he had managed to compose himself.

"Logic, if that's you, come in," Came Morality's soft voice after some muffled mummbling.

Logic opened the door and walked into Missy's bedroom. He closed the door behind him and sat on the bed on the open spot next to Missy.

"Missy, I'm sorry about Prince. He shouldn't have done that, in my opinion. He should have respected your emotions and talked you through it," Logic said in his most comforting tone. He looked at Morality, silently asking if they should even mention Anxiety to the child next to them. Morality shook his head and Pranks, from behind Missy, shook his head and said a soft no.

Missy, who was sitting on Pranks's lap turned his body to look at Pranks. "What?" He sniffled.

"Nothing, Missy. We'll talk about it later. Do you have anything you want to do to cheer you up?" Pranks asked, fixing Missy's bangs.

Missy sniffled and shrugged in response.

Logic, not sure how to console Missy, moved so he was sitting in front of Missy instead of on the side of him.

"Missy, we care about you deeply. You are important to us, and I am glad you expressed your emotions. It isn't healthy to keep them supressed. I love you, we love you," he said, leaning forward and hugging Missy.

There was a quiet 'aw' from Morality's direction as he joined the hug. Logic smiled, throwing his doubtful thoughts aside and kissing Morality on the cheek.

When they pulled away from the hug, Morality seemed to have decided to talk with Missy about the situation.

"So, Missy, Prince grounded you even though he normally wouldn't. I don't know what happened to him to make him change like that, but I do know that... Gosh, how do I put this? Anxiety, he came back. I don't know if he was taken or if he left at his own free will but..." Morality trailed off, fidgeting with his hands in his lap.

Logic continued for Morality. "He actually backed Prince up on him grounding you. Absurd, I know. I'm trying to make sense of it and the only explanation is that something had to have happened while he was gone. He changed in demeanor as well. It's very confusing. Morality and I can try to talk to him, but I'm unsure if that will help."

"I'm sorry, kiddo," Morality said, hugging Missy (And Pranks, really.) again. Missy looked down and nodded.

"And he didn't even say hi to me when I walked past him? I didn't realize he was there because I was crying, I guess. I just thought that it would be really different when he came back..." Said Missy, leaning back into Pranks.

Logic shook his head, trying his best to not think about everything. He could do that when it was more quiet. When he was alone, and could think clearly.

"How about we watch a movie?" Pranks suggested, shifing his position.

"Which one would you like to watch, Missy?" Logic asked.

"Uh, just put on anything that isn't Disney, please." Missy mummbled, putting his head in Pranks's chest and closing his eyes tightly. Pranks rubbed his back.

Morality got up to choose a movie, which ended up being the Spongebob Movie because that's the only movie Morality knew wasn't Disney. Logic, for some reason, was able to just summon a couple bowls of popcorn without getting off the bed.

"Wait, how do you have the ability to do that?" Pranks asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Logic shrugged in response.

"It really comes in handy," Morality commented with a smile. He got on the bed as the movie started. Eventually, they all decided on a position that was comfortable for everyone.

\-----

Missy had fallen asleep half way through the movie, exhausted from all his crying. Pranks, not being able to move with Misleading Compliments on top of him, decided to sleep as well. Morality and Logic, however, decided to take care of the popcorn and the CD. Morality put back the movie and then they both wondered to the kitchen to clean the bowls.

"I'm not understanding what changed in both Prince and Anxiety. Anxiety should have changed if he was taken, especially if it was the person who... You know. That would obviously leave emotional trauma, as it probably already did. But, likely, it would not have been this bad. Even I can understand that, and I'm terrible with emotions," Explained Logic as he washed the first bowl of popcorn.

Motality, leaning on the counter a little bit away from him, nodded. "I definately agree. Anxiety could even be emotionally destroyed, but he wouldn't act like this. Anxiety is-"

"Anxiety is what, Morality?" Came a voice from the doorway.

Logic placed the first bowl down, seeing as it was now dry, and turned so he could see Anxiety in the doorway just as Morality had.

"Come on, I'm waiting for an answer. Tick tock, tick tock," Anxiety said, tapping an invisible watch on his wrist. Logic shook his head and muttered something under his breath and turned around to wash the second bowl.

"Oh, Logan," Anxiety started, dragging out Logic's name and walking forward. "Are you still upset at me because of this morning? I was only telling you the truth."

Logan paused what he was doing and took in a deep breath before he continued. Morality watched from his side of the room.

"You know you can't make it up to me, Logan. You're going to be a shitty father forever. It's what I'll know you as, what Prince knows you as. That's what you are. You neglected me for years. You can't get that time back," Anxiety commented, now right behind Logic.

Logic gently put the bowl in the sink and turned around to face Anxiety.

"I'm trying, Anxiety. I really am. I'm trying to make up for the lost time even though I know that isn't possible. Can't you see that? I'm trying to be a better father, I'm trying to be perfect for you! I want to fix my mistake but I can't, and I already have to live with that for the rest of my life. Isn't that enough? Can't you just give me a chance?"

There was a glare coming from Anxiety and then there was a loud smack. Logic froze, Morality froze, and Anxiety stood there with a content look on his face.

"Anxiety Sanders, did you just slap your father?" Asked Morality, finally moving and doing something.

"Yes, I slapped my 'father.' And what are you going to do about it?" Anxiety asked taking one step back so he could be away from Logic.

"You don't get to slap your father, Anxiety. I don't care if you just got kidnapped and you're emotionally traumatized, that doesn't give you the right to hurt somebody. Now get out of here, go to your room or something. I don't want to see you anymore," Said Morality. He turned around to check on Logic, who had finally got past the shock and was holding his cheek. Anxiety's footsteps could be heard as he walked away.

"Logan, Love, I need you to come with me into the bathroom, okay? We're going to make sure you're okay," Morality said softly, reaching out half way and allowing Logic to grab his hand.

Morality knew something was terribly wrong with their situation at this point.

_**I'm the kitchen scene, Logic and Morality are talking about how Anxiety is acting too different. Anxiety overheard them and asks about it and as things escalate, Logic gets slapped. Morality scolds Anxiety and then wants makes sure Logic is okay physically.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHAMELESS PROMO: FOLLOW MY TUMBLR @virgiltheanxious (I also changed my name to this so)
> 
> AND LOOK AT ME I UPDATED TWO DAYS IN A ROW WOOO!! This is only half edited btw.


	13. ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ

“Sit on the toilet, Logic," Morality requested as he bent down to grab any and all medical supplies that they had.

Logic complied, staying silent as he did. He rubbed his cheek, which now had a huge red mark on it.

"Do you want to talk?" Morality asked softly as he gently turned Logic's head. He examined the red parts of Logic's face.

Logic slowly shook his head. He didn't want to talk at all. He kept his gaze to the ground as Morality continued to turn his head in certain angles.

"Okay. If you decide that you want to talk about it, just tell me," Morality started, letting go of Logic's face and rummaging around in the cabinets for a first aid kit. "Is it okay to put peroxide that close to your eye? It looks scratched..."

Logic tried to say something but cleared his throat when he realized that what he said had been unclear. He tried again."No, I would use Neosporin if any skin has been broken on a face."

"Okay," said Morality as he took out a red bag. He looked through the bag until he found a small bottle of Neosporin. He put some on his finger and spread it on Logic's cheek.

"I think this is going to bruise, so we should probably ice it. Should I put a bandaid on the scratches?"

"It wouldn't hurt," Logic quietly said.

Logic's gaze followed Morality as he looked for a larger bandaid. When he found one, he peeled off the paper and carefully put it on Logic's cheek. Logic watched as Morality pulled an ice pack out of the first aid kit and cracked it. Logic reached out for it and Morality placed it into his hands. He put it on his cheek and winced at the cold.

"Are you sure you're okay, Logan? I know something like that wasn't good for you mentally, considering..." Morality trailed off.

"Can we just go to our bedroom, please?" Logic whispered, his words barely audible.

Morality nodded, standing up and giving Logic a hand to take. He stood up too and held Morality's hand as they walked swiftly through the halls to their bedroom. Logic flinched when they passed both Prince and Anxiety's bedrooms. Morality rubbed his back each time, whispering something in his ear that Logic couldn't even comprehend, due to the ringing in his ears. When they got to their bedroom, Logic immediately curled up on the bed.

"Patton, am I a bad Father?" Logic whispered as tears arose in his eyes.

"No, of course not. You're trying to make things better and putting in an effort. That makes you a good father," Morality said as he got onto the bed and hugged Logic. "You're giving it your all to make up for what you've done, and that's good. Anxiety's not Anxiety right now, okay? He was in the wrong, I promise."

"But... but he's my son. He's the one that experiences my fathering..." Logic whimpered as the tears that came down his cheeks.

Morality was quick to wipe them away. "Listen, Logan. He's wrong. I think he just needs time to calm down and recover. Right now, he isn't in the right mindset. You can't trust what he says, you're a good father."

Logic nodded and pulled Morality close, burying his head into the older trait’s chest. His heart ached because he knew that what Anxiety said was correct. He wasn't going to be able to make up for all those years.

It's not that he didn't trust Morality, but he couldn't believe what he was being told.

He was a terrible father, and his sons deserved someone a lot better.

He stayed in Morality's arms for hours, silently crying. He didn't move until there was a knocking at the bedroom door.

"Who is it?" Asked Morality.

The door slowly creaked open and Logic turned his head to see who was at the door. He was surprised to see Missy there.

"Missy? What do you need, kiddo?"

"I had a nightmare again..." Missy whispered, playing with his hands and looking at his feet.

Logic furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't you usually go to Prince or Anxiety?" His voice rough.

"I don't think they like me much anymore," Misleading Compliments mumbled.

"I'm sure that isn't true, but you can come into the bed with us if you want," Morality offered scorching away from Logic.

Logic moved as well, grabbing the ice pack that had fallen at some point and putting it back on his cheek. It wasn't cold anymore, but he didn't care much. He took off his glasses with his other hand and put them on the bedside table.

He felt the bed shift as Missy climbed in between them. Morality hugged the younger one and reached out for Logic to come closer too.

"What happened to your cheek, grandpére?"

Logic smiled softly even though the circumstances. "Don't worry about it, okay petit-enfant? Just go back to sleep."

Missy obviously didn't want to listen to Logic, but turned to Morality and buried his head into his shoulder. Logic looked up at Morality, who was smiling like a dork.

"What?" Logic asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I love how you two do that French thing. It's cute!" Morality squealed.

"Grandpa, quiet. I'm trying to sleep here," Missy said.

"Sorry, kiddo."

Logic shrugged. "It's just French for grandfather and grandchild. It's not anything too intense."

"It's still cute," Morality confirmed running a hand through Logic's hair.

"I suggest you take off your glasses and sleep. It's getting late and you should get 7-8 hours of sleep per night."

"Says the guy that stays up until 3 A.M. doing research about slang," Morality sassed, closing his glasses and handing them to Logic who put them next to his own.

"Goodnight, Patton. Goodnight, petit-enfant."

"Goodnight, Logan," Morality whispered, switching off the light that was above his head.

"Sweet dreams, grandpére," Missy mumbled, already half asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... so this happened. They'll be more angst to come. The next chapter I probably going to be a filler chapter and then it'll get more intense.
> 
> Edited by: LuvKitties1414
> 
> WARNINGS FOR NEXT FEW CHAPTERS (After the next I believe):
> 
> kidnapping, violence (probably), and self hate.


	14. uǝǝʇɹnoℲ

**Warnings:** Swearing when Missy gets angry

Missy was in the living room with Pranks when it happened.

They were trying to hang out, maybe do a calming puzzle - Misleading Compliments needed it after he got yelled at by Prince. He was almost constantly on edge now. Whenever he saw Prince, he ducked his head down then ran away. He'd go into his bedroom and wouldn't come back out until his grandfather forced him to.

He hadn't even been showing up to dinner. Luckily, Morality accepted that and brought him his dinner to eat in his room.

He had finally come out of his room - with a lot of coaxing from Pranks - Anxiety had shown up.

Misleading Compliments was upset at Anxiety because he had just allowed Prince ground him. Thus the room was full of tension the moment Anxiety entered.

Missy stood up and got ready to leave immediately, but Pranks reached out and held his arm. Missy sighed and sat back down, fidgeting with a puzzle piece and keeping his gaze on the carpet.

He heard a scoff from the direction of the door, along with some mumbling, which made him look up.

"What?" Missy snapped.

"Don't talk to me with that tone, I'm your father," Anxiety hissed.

"With what tone? I'm literally just asking what you wanted because you were obviously upset with something."

"Yeah, maybe I'm a little upset with you being such an annoying little brat," Anxiety mumbled, turning away and heading toward the kitchen.

"What the hell?" Missy said, balling his hands into fists and breathing heavily.

This caught Anxiety's attention, and he stomped over to Misleading Compliments, who looked up at him.

"What did you say?" He growled.

"I said what the hell, because you're being a huge dick," Missy responded, standing up himself.

By now, Prince had come into the living room. Missy just assumed he was following Anxiety and got held back by something.

"Missy! I did not just hear you say that, did I?" Prince shouted loud enough to gain someone's attention on the other end of the mindscape.

"You know what? I did! I said it and I'm not taking it back!"

Pranks stood up and took Missy's hand attempting to get him to leave now. Fighting wasn't good for anyone, and Missy knew it.

"No, Pranks, I'm staying. We're settling this now."

"Misleading Compliments, apologize right now," commanded Prince, walking closer until he was next to Anxiety.

"No. I only told the truth."

"Apologize or you will be grounded again, without TV or any electronics. You'll be in your room every day for a month," Prince threatened, anger flaring in his eyes.

Missy shook his head and crossed his arms, refusing to comply. "In fact, both of you have been total dicks to me. I think you should apologize, actually."

Anxiety huffed and stormed away, Prince's gaze following.

"That's it. You're grounded, go to your room. I don't want to see you for the next month. I thought you'd be happy to have your father back, but you're just being a brat!" Prince yelled, completely fed up at this point.

"Yeah, I'm the brat! You're so much worse than me. You're constantly yelling at me, both of you! I just wanted my family back, but this is not my family. I hate it! I hate you, Prince!" Missy shouted in one breath. He only stayed long enough to see the shock written on Prince's face before he ran to his bedroom, Pranks following him.

Only when he entered his bedroom did he let himself cry. The sobs racked his body as he sunk to the ground by the door. Missy saw a blurry Pranks sit next to him, vaguely felt his arms hug him, but couldn't really comprehend that he was there. It just felt so... off to him. He couldn't focus.

"Get my... Okay?"

Missy didn't hear the entirety of what Pranks said, but nodded anyway. He was trying so hard to stop crying but he just couldn't.

Every time it seemed like he was about to stop, he would remember what his family was like before and start crying all over again.

Because he missed it.

He missed the old Anxiety. The one who would watch movies with him whenever he asked. The Anxiety that would hug him and ask him what was wrong if he showed any sign of being upset at all.

He missed Anxiety, his dad.

He also missed Prince. Prince; the man who would challenge him to sword duels. Prince; the man who would help him create misleading compliments when he couldn't create any of his own. Prince; the father that loved him.

The realization that neither of his parents loved him like any more, that hurt so much more than he needed.

Missy hugged his legs close to his chest as he cried. He hiccuped and buried his head into his knees.

"... fought with Anxiety... been crying. ... Don't know what to do."

Missy couldn't hear everything (mostly because he didn't want to) but knew Pranks had gotten somebody. He just wanted to be alone. Was that too much to ask? His shoulders shook as he let out another sob. He just needed to calm down, alone. He knew, however, that he wouldn't be left alone.

He felt someone give him a hug from the side, and knew from the familiar embrace (and the cardigan that rubbed on him somehow) that it was Morality. He sniffed and lifted his head so he could look at everyone that was in his room.

Through blurry eyes, he thought he saw Logic, Morality, and Pranks all around him. It looked like Logic was frowning, but Missy couldn't be sure.

"Kiddo, it's going to be okay. I promise. We think we figured out something that's going to help with the situation. We'll talk about that when you calm down, okay? Take your time, let it out," Patton said.

He hated to admit it, but Morality called him down faster than ever. The way he spoke was just so calming to Missy. He didn't know why, but his sobbing was reduced to hiccuping after a few minutes of Morality rubbing his back and hugging him.

"Can- can you tell me about that thing you were mentioning earlier, please? I just... I want my Dads back," Missy croaked, moving so he was sitting in Morality's lap with his arms around his neck.

"Missy, are you sure you're mentally ready? This isn't exactly something small," Logic warned.

"Just say it, please."

"Okay," said Morality. "Well, Logic and I were talking about Anxiety, how different he's been since he got back. He- he did something really bad to Logan which is what caused us to stop and talk about it."

"What'd he do?" Pranks asked.

"He slapped me, and said some hurtful things."

"That's not okay! Why would he do that?! That's not like him at all!" Misleading Complements shouted, pulling his arms away from Morality and looking at Logic. "Are you okay, grandpére?"

"Neither was all the stuff he did to you, Missy, and yes, I am quite okay. Anyway, that caused both Morality and I to start thinking about it. The made me believe that my mind has been too... clouded lately, because Morality pointed out that, maybe, Anxiety isn't Anxiety. Truthfully, I should have figured that out. I mean, all the signs were there," Logic explained.

"What do you mean?" Missy asked. "How can Anxiety not be Anxiety?"

"Uh, what we mean by that is we think that's not Anxiety, kiddo. We think it's someone else dressing up as Anxiety. Logic said that it would most likely be the person who took him in the first place, so yeah. There's no way that's Anxiety," Morality said, a frown etched on his features.

"So, if that's not Anxiety, then who has Prince been kissing and hanging out with?" Questioned Pranks.

"That's what we're trying to figure out, kiddo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it! Sorry it took so long I don't have much of an excuse. I was gone for a week and then just put it off. Sorry about that! Warnings for next chapter will be kidnapping self hate. Thank you to my editor again!
> 
> Edited by: LuvKitties1414


	15. uǝǝʇɟıℲ

**WARNING: Mentions of abuse and kidnapping. Chapter summary will be bolded at the end.** **)**

Prince hummed as he washed his hands. He and Anxiety planned to make a lunch together and then start a movie marathon. Needless to say, Prince was excited for the day.

He dries his hands off and then began to journey to the kitchen, deciding to cut through the living room. As he became closer, he heard both Anxiety and what seemed to be Missy. When he got to the room, he listened to what Missy said before getting angry.

"Misleading Compliments, apologize right now," he commanded, walking closer to the situation. He reached out to hold Anxiety's hand in a comforting motion.

"No. I only told the truth."

"Apologize or you will be grounded again, without TV or any electronics. You'll be in your room every day for a month," Prince threatened, anger flaring in his eyes. He couldn't believe his son was being this rude to his father.

"In fact, both of you have been total dicks to me. I think you should apologize, actually," Missy replied, crossing his arms over his chest. Prince internally scoffed.

Anxiety huffed and stormed away, Prince's gaze following him. That was the last straw.

"That's it. You're grounded, go to your room. I don't want to see you for the next month. I thought you'd be happy to have your father back, but you're just being a brat!" Prince yelled, completely enraged at Misleading Compliment's attitude.

"Yeah, I'm the brat! You're so much worse than me. You're constantly yelling at me, both of you! I just wanted my family back, but this is not my family. I hate it! I hate you, Prince!" Missy shouted in one breath.

Prince was shocked to say the least. He didn't ever think he would hear those words said to him, and by his son no less. He felt the stinging in the back of his eyes, but took a deep breath and ignored it. He would carry his shoulders high.

Until he reached his room, at least.

He didn't bother looking for Anxiety because he knew that sometimes he preferred to just cry on his own. Prince new that this was one of those times, and that it would be best for him to comfort Anxiety afterwards.

As he opened the door to his own bedroom, he finally slouched. Clapping his hands twice, his attire changed in an instant to a more normal attire. Shivering, he tugged the jacket closer to himself.

Did Misleading Compliments actually mean that?

It sounded like he did. And that hurt, it really did.

Prince's mind wouldn't stop thinking, even for a second. What did Missy mean when he said that they weren't his family? Did it have something to do with Anxiety?

He didn't think so, but what Missy said filled his mind with doubt.

As he thought more and more about it, Prince thought that maybe he should go back and read some of Anxiety's journal entries.

_It's been a few months since Misleading Compliments was born, and I've had to leave him with Prince most of the time. I couldn't risk having him around when Depression decides to show up. He always wanted to be with me though, which makes it hard. I haven't ever seen Depression outside of my room, so I can visit him. But I still don't trust that Depression won't try to hurt me in front of Missy._

 

Prince became frustrated when he couldn't find Sincerely, Me.anything. He should trust Missy, shouldn't he?

He was doubting that the Anxiety he was talking to was actually Anxiety now. It didn't really make much sense anyway because-

Prince's thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming against the wall.

"Woah, what's going on? Are you okay?" Prince asked, standing up and hiding the notebooks behind his back.

He knew that if it was the real Anxiety, he would flip out over them being read.

"Does it  _look_  like I'm okay? No. I'm not. Because your stupid family found me out."

Prince slowly started to back up to the wall in order to distance himself from the other man.

"What do you mean 'found you out?'"

"Wait, you don't know too? Thats hysterical! They didn't even tell you," he said.

Prince finally reached the back wall and stayed still. "Anxiety, I don't know what you're going on, but-"

"Oh, I'm not Anxiety." He said, chuckling. With a snap of his fingers, a mist clouded around the other man I'm the room. When the most was gone, someone entirety different stood in front of Prince.

"Who the hell are you?" Prince snarled, grabbing the sword on the wall behind him.

"You wouldn't want to know."

With a swift flick of the wrist, Prince's competitor had a sword as well.

Prince moved so his sword was in front of him and he was on the top of his feet, ready to fight.

Prince saw the other man swing at him, but blocked it with a clang. they continued to go back and forth until Prince lunged forward, pushing Depression backwards, angering him. Prince smirked and kicked him to the ground, holding him down with a foot on his chest.

"Any last words before I vanquish you, villian?" Prince asked, holding his sword at angle so it was close to the other's face. Prince held a triumphant smile, proud of himself.

He could get Anxiety back.

The  _real_  Anxiety.

"Yeah, think again," He replied as Prince's foot was grasped, throwing him off balance and onto the floor. Prince frantacly looked for his sword and saw it out of reach from him. Scooting backwards in an attempt to bring hinself closer to his sword, Prince looked up only to be tackled back to the ground.

His head hit the ground with a loud thump that had Prince unable to focus on anything for a few good seconds. Nevertheless, he tried to look behind hin for his sword, but it was hard to move while being pinned down by someone. He looked directly above him and saw the somewhat- blurry face of Depression. He could see his lips moving, saying something that was probably about why he was doing this to Prince or what an easy fight he was, but couldn't comprehend it. Slowly, he began to hear actual words instead of noise and closed his eyes shut tightly.

"...There's something you should..." Prince heard as he opened his eyes back up. He breathed in deeply and groaned softly at the pain. "...who you think."

Prince, finally gaining enough energy to move, tried to pull his right arm free to do anything to get out of this situation. He had to get control.

"Oh no you don't-" Said Depression, tightening his grip and using his other hand to bring the butt of his sword to Prince's head.

Prince shouted, the disorientation coming back to him again.

He was hit in the head two more times before he was out.

\-----

Morality wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel with the new information they had discovered.

He was extremely happy that who they were hanging out with wasn't Anxiety on the one hand, because they had been a jerk and had even slapped Logic. That means that everything said about Morality and Logic was a lie. They could still make up with Anxiety; they could make things better.

But, on the other hand... Prince had been kissing the other guy. He put all his trust into him, and was even rude to Missleading Compliments. His own kid. Whoever it was had tried to destroy their family's trust.

And the worst part was, they were starting to succeed.

Morality shook his head and knocked on Prince's door and waited for a response. When one didn't come, Morality knocked again but louder.

When he didn't get a response the third time he got too worried and barged in.

He scanned the entire room and didn't see Prince at all. He did, however see a note that lay on his sword on his bed.

"That's weird, his sword is always hanging on the wall," Morality said to himself, inching closer to the bed.

He slowly picked up the note and read it.

_Dear Morality, Logic, Missy, Pranks, and whoever else may want to know:_   
_I have Prince and Anxiety. Half of Thomas. If you want to see the two of them again unharmed, you'll let me take control of Thomas._

_Take note that if you don't get them back Thomas won't ever be the same._

_It's about time I got my turn anyway._

_Sincerely._

Morality felt tears run down his cheeks mid way through the letter.

"Logan!" He screamed, dropping to the floor and hugging his knees to his chest. He sobbed loudly and put his forehead on his knees.

When Logan rushed in and asked him what was wrong, Morality handed him the now crumpled note. He continued to cry as Logic read the note.

Logic sat down next to him and hugged him, kissing him on the forehead.

"We'll figure this out, Patton. We have to."

He just wanted his family back.

**In this chapter, Prince thinks about what he was told and is now supiscous of Anxiety. When Anxiety catches him reading the notebooks, they fight and it is revealed that Anxiety is not Anxiety. The fake Anxiety captures Prince. When morality tries to talk to prince, he instead finds a note telling him to let fake anxiety take control of Thomas.**


	16. uǝǝʇxᴉS

Thomas sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he was exhausted and all around didn't feel as cheerful as normal. It wasn't like it was 'just one of those days,'  it definitely felt like something more than that to him. Fed up with feeling this way, Thomas summoned Morality.  
"Heya kiddo! How're you doing?" Morality asked, the usual smile on his face.

"Frankly, not good at all. What's going on?"

Thomas watched as Morality avoided eye contact and thought for a moment. "Well, we're just having a little bit of trouble down in the mindscape. Nothing to be too worried about, we're working on fixing that problem now!" Morality exclaimed.

"The thing is, Patton, I just don't know... I just have a sense that something is wrong? Like really wrong," Thomas explained, sitting down on his couch.

"Uhm, I just don't want to make you worry, we're trying our best to get this situation under control."

"Well, now I'm just more worried," Thomas says, rubbing his face. "But it's more like a faint worry, it's there but it's not."

"Well, I really don't know what to say kiddo, we really are trying..."

Thomas nodded, and then made a noise. "Wait, if Anxiety is gone, doesn't that mean I could summon him and he'd have to be back? That could work, couldn't it?" Thomas questioned, to which Morality shrugged his shoulders and looked at his feet.

"There's no harm in trying, but I'm not sure-"

"I'm going to try, I- we- need him back," Thomas says, trying to focus now on summoning Anxiety.  He took a deep breath in and channeled all his thoughts on Anxiety, memories of where he was supposed to be and why he needed him there, at the stairwell. This went on for a couple minutes before Morality spoke up.

"Thomas, I don't think it's going to work," Morality said, his voice in pain.

"Just- I gotta try. It's wrong not having him here. I just keep feeling worse and worse. I don't think it will stop until he gets back," Thomas explains, opening his eyes and look at Morality.

Morality nodded, and let Thomas try again. Morality didn't speak up until three full minutes later. "Kiddo, I hate to break it to you but it's not going to work. You should stop trying, and get some rest."

Thomas stopped, opened his eyes and looked at Morality in the eyes. "I just... I think Anxiety being gone has affected Princey a lot. I've haven't been thinking as creatively as I used to. It just... isn't right," Thomas started. "Have you talked to him? I'm sure that hearing something from Anxiety's father could help him a little bit,"

"I've tried to, Thomas. I think it's more than just Anxiety being missing thats the problem for him," Morality said, pushing his glasses up.

"Maybe, but Pat it's more than just a lack of creativity... it's really bad. I practically don't have any creativity at all. I'm really worried for Roman," Thomas explained, pacing around now and rubbing his chin.

"Yeah but, kiddo, I-"

Thomas cut Morality off, pausing his pacing and looking him straight in the eyes. "I think we should talk to Roman together, he probably just needs help through this. We can let him talk it out, you know?"

Before Morality could protest, Thomas had already tried to summon Prince. After the first try, Thomas looked at Morality, who was now rubbing his hands together nervously.

"Patton... why isn't Roman coming up? What aren't you telling me? I need to know, it's my body that we're talking about here," Requested Thomas, nerves showing up in his own voice now.

"Tommy it's hard to explain and I want to tell you, I do but-"

Morality was cut off by an unseen force, his lips moving but no noise came out and it seemed as though there was something covering his mouth. This prevented Thomas from being able to make out what was trying to be said, although he could catch a few words. Thomas furrowed his eyebrows and took a step closer to the trait.

"Mo, I can't hear you- What's happening?"

Morality's eyes widened, and Thomas watched as he tried to speak again.

Thomas focused on trying to figure out what Morality was trying to say, though it was a jumbled mess of words from separate sentences.

'Someone'

'Anxiety'

'Need help'

'Can't'

'Gone'

Morality started to say things faster, trying to get his point across. Thomas could no longer tell a single word that was trying to be said. He reached forward to grab Morality's wrist but by the time he did, Morality had disappeared.

Thomas was more concerned than he had ever been in his life, and it wasn't even really there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is short but also hi!! I wrote something for once. I should be doing homework now, so i hope you enjoyed.


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